Culture

ITV commissions new gay sitcom starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi

Oct 29 2012
Written by Joseph McCormick

A new sitcom has been commissioned by ITV, which is set to feature Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Ian McKellen as an elderly gay couple.

The series, which is titled, Vicious Old Queens, will feature both actors as an elderly gay couple living in London’s Covent Garden.

It’s been written by Gary Janetti, a former executive producer and writer of Will and Grace and Family Guy, and consists of six thirty minute episodes, the Star on Sunday reported.

An unknown source told the paper: “No one can quite believe ITV have managed to get Sir Ian on board. Brit stars don’t get much bigger than him. It’s a great coup for ITV to get these two.”

In 1996, Derek Jacobi played Alan Turing in Breaking the Code. In November 2011, Channel 4 broadcast a docu-drama about the gay codebreaker.

He said back in July that he viewed the debate over equal marriage rights for gay couples as a ‘squabble over nothing’.

Speaking at a school in London this week, Sir Ian said that he thought having to hide his sexuality for years was pivotal in perfecting his acting skills.